KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Every prominent member of the Chiefs defense realized something significant last Friday before practice.
“This is going to be the first time everybody on the defense is healthy and playing,” defensive end Charles Omenihu said Wednesday. “It’s going to be good. … We’ll be ready to go.”
The veteran who returned to the practice field last week and who is expected to return from injured reserve in time for Saturday’s divisional-round playoff game against the Houston Texans is cornerback Jaylen Watson.
Watson could start Saturday and play a majority of the snaps after he was a full participant in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. His addition should strengthen the secondary.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will have all 18 of his starting and rotational players healthy and at his disposal in a tactical effort to disrupt the Texans offense.
“I think these next two (practices) will be really important,” Spagnuolo said Wednesday of Watson. “He needs to get up to the speed of the game — and it’s not regular-season speed. It’s playoff speed.”
In Week 7, Watson suffered a fractured fibula and tibia in his left leg early during the Chiefs’ win over the San Francisco 49ers. At that time, the Chiefs were worried that Watson’s injury would end his season. Before his injury, Watson had played 90 percent or more of the Chiefs’ defensive snaps in each of the first five games of this season, recording 32 tackles and six pass breakups, which tied his career high.
With Watson starting opposite All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, quarterbacks completed just 60 percent of their passes. Since Watson was placed on injured reserve — and Joshua Williams, Nazeeh Johnson and undrafted rookie Chris Roland-Wallace filled in — the completion percentage rose to 67 percent.
“Jaylen is one of those guys in this DB room that has a lot of energy,” McDuffie said Wednesday. “When you see him on the practice field, he’s dancing, he’s smiling. It’s great to get guys coming back from injury, whether it’s been two weeks or two months.
“I think he’s doing really well. He’s able to move around very well. You can tell that he’s still retained the information and it doesn’t really look like he’s coming off an injury. He’s done a great job with his recovery.”
Two days after the Chiefs’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day, Watson posted a short video on Instagram that showed him sprinting inside the team’s training facility. A few days later, Watson posted another video. This one featured him backpedaling and smoothly changing directions.
“He’s been in the system for three years, he’s played in all the big games and he’s someone that I know the coaches trust a lot,” McDuffie said. “He can come back in and have a physical advantage, his length and his size (6-foot-2 and 197 pounds).
With Watson’s return, Spagnuolo could test the Texans’ passing attack by having his cornerbacks play more man coverage than usual. In the regular season, the Chiefs aligned their outside cornerbacks in press-man coverage on 52 percent of snaps, the highest rate in the league by almost 7 percent, according to Next Gen Stats.
Nico Collins, the Texans’ best receiver, generated much of his production in last week’s win over the Los Angeles Chargers — seven receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown — in the middle of the field.
“They’re pretty smart,” Spagnuolo said of the Texans. “They move (receivers) around. No matter who ends up on (Collins), we need to know where he is. He’s a guy we’re very concerned about.”
In the Chiefs’ Dec. 21 victory against the Texans, McDuffie played just 10 snaps as the nickel defender. But on Saturday, McDuffie could match up against the slot receiver while Watson and Williams are on the perimeter when the Chiefs play nickel or dime personnel.
“I love going against players like this, someone who I call a complete receiver,” McDuffie said of Collins. “He’s big, he’s physical, he’s fast, (has) good hands and his connection with (quarterback) C.J. (Stroud), you can tell, is at an all-time high. He’s their No. 1 receiver. That’s why you want to play this game, to go against the best.”
If the Chiefs’ man coverage is sticky and effective, Spagnuolo likely will blitz Stroud often. The Chiefs rushed the quarterback with five or more defenders on 36 percent of opponents’ dropbacks this season, the fifth-highest rate in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats.
Early in the season, when Watson was in the lineup, the Chiefs were missing Omenihu, who was rehabbing after tearing the ACL in his right knee in last year’s AFC Championship Game. While Watson hopes to strengthen the secondary, Omenihu wants to be a difference-maker in the pass rush, a part of the unit that will feature him, Chris Jones, George Karlaftis and Mike Danna on pivotal third-down snaps.
In the final six games of the regular season, Omenihu recorded a sack, a forced fumble and six tackles in limited time on the field. But Omenihu has a strong reputation once the calendar turns to January. In 11 playoff games, he has recorded 4 1/2 sacks, nine quarterback hits and three forced fumbles.
“I’ve always enjoyed the postseason,” Omenihu said. “It brings out the best in myself, so it’s going to be fun. The best football I’ve played in my career has been in the playoffs.”
When chatting with reporters Wednesday, Omenihu’s eyes got wide when he explained his excitement when he first saw Spanguolo’s game plan for Saturday. It’s sure to include new blitzes, pre-snap coverage disguises and pass rush-rushing surprises.
“Oh, yeah, I was happy about the game plan,” Omenihu said, smiling. “It’s going to be good, man. We’ve just got to execute, really. We’ve got to stop the run first. I told myself, ‘All right, brother, now it’s time to ramp it up in all aspects of your game.’”
